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Continental Tire the Americas, LLC, Grant of Petition for Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance Publication: Federal Register Signing Official: Otto G. Matheke III Agency: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Date: 31 October 2022 Topic: Continental Automotive  
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 209 (Monday, October 31, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65641-65642]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-23598]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. NHTSA-2021-0095; Notice 2]
Continental Tire the Americas, LLC, Grant of Petition for
Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance
AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA),
Department of Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Grant of petition.
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SUMMARY: Continental Tire the Americas, LLC, (CTA) has determined that
certain Continental motorcycle tires do not fully comply with Federal
Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 119, New Pneumatic Tires for
Motor Vehicles with a GVWR of More Than 4,536 Kilograms (10,000
Pounds), Specialty Tires, and Tires for Motorcycles. CTA filed a
noncompliance report dated December 2, 2021, and subsequently
petitioned NHTSA on December 22, 2021, for a decision that the subject
noncompliance is inconsequential as it relates to motor vehicle safety.
This notice announces the grant of CTA's petition.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jayton Lindley, General Engineer,
NHTSA, Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance, telephone (325) 655-0547.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Overview
CTA has determined that certain Continental motorcycle tires from
several different tire lines do not fully comply with the requirements
of paragraph S6.5(b) of FMVSS No. 119, New Pneumatic Tires for Motor
Vehicles with a GVWR of More Than 4,536 Kilograms (10,000 Pounds) (49
CFR 571.119). CTA filed a noncompliance report dated December 2, 2021,
pursuant to 49 CFR part 573, Defect and Noncompliance Responsibility
and Reports. CTA subsequently petitioned NHTSA on December 22, 2021,
for an exemption from the notification and remedy requirements of 49
U.S.C. Chapter 301 on the basis that this noncompliance is
inconsequential as it relates to motor vehicle safety, pursuant to 49
U.S.C. 30118(d) and 30120(h) and 49 CFR part 556, Exemption for
Inconsequential Defect or Noncompliance.
This notice of receipt of CTA's petition is published under 49
U.S.C. 30118 and 30120 and does not represent any Agency decision or
other exercise of judgment concerning the merits of the petition.
Notice of receipt of CTA's petition was published with a 30-day
public comment period, on April 13, 2022, in the Federal Register (87
FR 22022). No comments were received. To view the petition and all
supporting documents log onto the Federal Docket Management System
(FDMS) website at https://www.regulations.gov/. Then follow the online
search instructions to locate docket number ``NHTSA-2021-0095.''
II. Tires Involved
Approximately 14,198 Continental motorcycle tires, size 100/80-16
M/C 50P, manufactured between July 2, 2018, and September 24, 2020, are
potentially involved.
III. Noncompliance
CTA explains the noncompliance is that the tires contain symbols in
the tire identification number (TIN) that are not allowed and,
therefore, do not meet the requirements of 49 CFR 574.5(f) which
results in a noncompliance with paragraph S6.5(b) of FMVSS No. 119.
Specifically, the sidewalls of the subject tires are marked with a TIN
that may contain one of the following unauthorized symbols: G, I, O, Q,
S, and Z.
[[Page 65642]]
IV. Rule Requirements
Paragraph S6.5(b) of FMVSS No. 119 includes the requirements
relevant to this petition. Each tire must be marked on each sidewall
with the TIN required by part 574. Specifically, section 574.5(f)
states that the only symbols that manufacturers and retreaders are
allowed to use in the tire identification number are: A, B, C, D, E, F,
H, J, K, L, M, N, P, R, T, U, V, W, X, Y, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9,
and 0.
V. Summary of CTA's Petition
The following views and arguments presented in this section, ``V.
Summary of CTA's Petition,'' are the views and arguments provided by
CTA. They do not reflect the views of the Agency.
CTA begins its petition by describing the subject noncompliance and
contending that it is inconsequential because the subject tires can
still be registered with the unauthorized symbols and can be identified
in the event of a recall.
CTA explains that it uses a third-party company, Computerized
Information and Management Services, Inc. (CIMS), who maintains ``a
database of all CTA's tire registrations for the purpose of identifying
purchasers of tires in the event of a future recall.'' Further, CTA
states that the database can be searched for not only exact matches but
also ``close matching database entries,'' which would mean the database
can perform a search ``if an `I' was misrepresented as a `1' or vice
versa.''
CTA says that in the event of a recall, the subject tires can be
identified in the U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association's tire recall
search tool \1\ because it uses an algorithm in which the unauthorized
letter can be used interchangeably with a corresponding allowed number,
for example, ``G or 6, I or 1, O or 0, etc.''
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\1\ https://recallinfo.ustires.org/.
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CTA states that NHTSA has previously assigned a plant code
containing an unauthorized letter to Continental Tire's location in
Timisoara, Romania. In that case, CTA says the plant code contained the
letter ``G'' which CTA believes ``does not cause any issues with tire
registration and would not affect the registration search in the case
of a recall.'' Therefore, CTA argues, that the use of the unauthorized
symbols in the TIN of the subject tires will not affect tire
registration or the identification of the TIN in the event of a recall.
CTA says that it has stopped the sale of the subject tires and
``has initiated the process of changing tire curing molds to compliant
DOT TIN's'' and that ``the mold change dates will be documented in the
CTA specification system for future traceability.'' CTA also says that
it is taking action to prevent the reoccurrence of the subject
noncompliance by modifying its sidewall specification system to include
``a control point before a DOT TIN can be released for production.''
Additionally, CTA says that it will comply with the new 13 character
TIN requirement by including a 3 character assigned plant code and the
6 digit manufacturer code that will be ``automatically generated by the
specification system, which assures that only authorized symbols are
used.''
CTA concludes its petition by stating that the subject
noncompliance is inconsequential as it relates to motor vehicle safety
and that its petition to be exempted from providing notification of the
noncompliance, as required by 49 U.S.C. 30118, and a remedy for the
noncompliance, as required by 49 U.S.C. 30120, should be granted.
VI. NHTSA's Analysis
NHTSA has evaluated the merits of the inconsequential noncompliance
petition submitted by CTA and is granting their request for relief from
notification and remedy based on the following:
Operational Safety & Performance: NHTSA has not identified
a manner in which the incorrect characters in the TIN will have an
effect on the operational safety and performance of the affected tires.
Traceability & Identification: NHTSA currently has no
reason to believe that the registration rate of the tires will decrease
due to the use of unauthorized characters. CTA demonstrated that the
affected tires can be registered by using either the actual or the
alternative, visually similar, characters (examples are ``G'' and
``6'', ``1'' and ``I'', etc.). Further, CTA demonstrated that, through
the use of CIMS, registrations using a similar unauthorized symbol in
lieu of a permitted symbol may be retrieved from the CIMS registration
database. This will ensure that in the event of a recall, registration
information for variations of the TIN numbers including both the
permitted and unauthorized symbols will be included, and therefore the
notification to consumers will not be diminished. Finally, NHTSA
believes that the incorrect characters in the TIN will not prevent
consumers from identifying the affected tires in the event of a recall.
Other Arguments: The Agency does not find an errant plant code
assignment using unauthorized symbols as compelling support for this
petition. Further, a previous error committed by the Agency does not
negate the requirements as stated in 49 CFR 574.5 (f).
VII. NHTSA's Decision
In consideration of the foregoing, NHTSA finds that CTA has met its
burden of persuasion that the subject FMVSS No. 119 noncompliance in
the affected tires is inconsequential to motor vehicle safety.
Accordingly, CTA's petition is hereby granted and CTA is consequently
exempted from the obligation of providing notification of, and a free
remedy for, that noncompliance under 49 U.S.C. 30118 and 30120.
NHTSA notes that the statutory provisions (49 U.S.C. 30118(d) and
30120(h)) that permit manufacturers to file inconsequentiality
petitions, only allow NHTSA to exempt manufacturers from the duties to
notify owners, purchasers, and dealers of a defect or noncompliance and
to remedy the defect or noncompliance. Therefore, the granting of this
petition only applies to the subject tires that CTA no longer
controlled at the time it determined that the noncompliance existed.
However, the granting of this petition does not relieve equipment
distributors and dealers of the prohibitions on the sale, offer for
sale, or introduction or delivery for introduction into interstate
commerce of the noncompliant tires under their control after CTA
notified them that the subject noncompliance existed.
(Authority: 49 U.S.C. 30118, 30120: delegations of authority at 49
CFR 1.95 and 501.8)
Otto G. Matheke III,
Director, Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2022-23598 Filed 10-28-22; 8:45 am]
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